Happy New Year of the Dog

On Sunday was the Chinese New Year. We are now in the Year of the Dog.

One of the benefits of living in this post-modern world is that we know of many different ancient traditions. We have the freedom to draw on any of them or even on a combination of them to shine light onto the present. So I am going to combine two ancient traditions now to make some "predictions" for this new year. It's kind of like an astrological forecast, except that no astrology is involved.

I am going to combine the tradition of the Chinese New Year with Native American medicine. There is one very obvious connection between them right this moment, and that connection is the Dog. We just started the Chinese Year of the Dog. And Native Americans knew about the Dog too. One of my favorite tools are the Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson. I also like to call them my "animal cards."

This is what the Dog card says, and I want all of us to take it as a context for this year:

14
Dog
Loyalty

Dog...
You are so noble,
Until the bitter end,
Your medicine is the teaching,
Of true and loyal friends.

All of the Southwest and Plains Indian tribe had Dogs. These noble animals would often give warning signals of approaching danger. They helped in the hunt and were a great source of warmth on long winter nights. Since the canine tribe has many breeds, early Indian Dogs were usually half-wild. This wildness, however, never divested the owners of their Dogs' innate loyalty.
Dog has been considered the servant of humanity throughout history. If a person carries Dog medicine, he or she is usually serving others or humanity in some way. Here you will find the charity worker, the philanthropist, the nurse, the counselor, the minister, and the soldier.
Dog was the servant-soldier that guarded the tribe's lodges from surprise attack. Dog is a medicine that embodies the loving gentleness of best friend and the half-wild protector energy of territorial imperative. Like Anubis, the jackal dog protector of Egypt, Dog is a guardian. Throughout history, Dog has been the guardian of hell, as well as of ancient secrets, hidden treasures, and babies--while mothers were cooking or in the fields. Dog honors its gifts and is loyal to the trust placed in its care.
In examining Dog medicine, you might find that you have fond personal memories of owning and loving Dog as a pet. The message that Dog is trying to give you is that you must delve deeply into your sense of service to others. Canines are genuinely service-oriented animals, and are devoted to their owners with a sense of loyalty that supersedes how they are treated.
If Dog has been yelled at or paddled, it still returns love to the person who was the source of its bad treatment. This does not come from stupidity, but rather from a deep and compassionate understanding of human shortcomings. It is as if a tolerant spirit dwells in the heart of every canine that asks only to be of service.
You can also see Dogs that have had the loyalty beaten out of them. They cower and cry at thes lightest look of disapproval, but this is not their normal nature. Some varieties of Dogs have even been trained against their natures to be brutal and vicious. Out of a sense of service, these breeds have adopted the attack-oriented desires of their owners. They carry an altered genetic memory of what service means if they are to be approved of by their masters.
Dog medicine asks you to look at how readily your sense of loyalty is countermanded by your need for approval. If you have pulled the Dog card, there are several questions you need to consider, depending on the situation about which you are asking.
1) Have I recently forgotten that I owe my allegiance to my personal truth in life?
2) Is it poosible that gossip or the opinions of others have jaded my loyalty to a certain friend or group?
3) Have I denied or ignored someone who is trying to be my loyal friend?
4) Have I been loyal and true to my goals?

From Jamie Sams and David Carson, Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1988, pp. 92-94

Here is my take on it: We are all in the Year of the Dog now, so in a sense we have all pulled the Dog card. So what the card says applies to all of us at this time. With that in mind, I invite you to contemplate the following for yourself:

Investigate your loyalty towards yourself and others. When you don't disclose negative feelings towards a friend, you might think that you are being loyal to him or her. But are you really? On the other hand, if you are there for others, night after night, without tending to your own needs, you are loyal to the others, but you are not being loyal to yourself. There is a fine balance in there somewhere, and it can be found.

Recognize that you are part of a big community. Make sure that all of your personal goals are in line with the greater goals of humankind. For example, rather than focusing on all the money you will earn this year, focus on how the services that you receive the money for are going to benefit others.

If you have been wanting to make babies, make them this year. The protector spirit of the Dog will be with your babies even in the womb.

When you feel that you have been treated badly, stay compassionate and loyal to the person that treated you badly. Remember that you are not being stupid; you are simply serving the greater good. The love between a dog and a human is unconditional. See if you can love the people around you the way a dog would love you.

Don't listen blindly to any perceived "master." This master could be your partner, a friend, your mother, your boss, or someone you admire. Before you believe or act, be sure that what are you doing stems from loyalty to yourself as well as your community.

If you have a history of fear of dogs or nightmares with dogs, use this year to finally release those threatening associations. Remember that dogs in their essence are loyal servants and friends.

There, that's my Chinese Native American outlook for the Year of the Dog. I can say with certainty that all of these things apply to myself. That's how it always is, isn't it? The rest of the world--or the year--is a mirror, and that's true for everybody.

Laughing and crying meditation

Recently at my counseling training we did a meditation that affected me very profoundly. It's a meditation that is based on and an abbreviated version of Osho's Mystic Rose meditation [background]. The meditation lasted for one hour, and this is how we spent that hour: For the first twenty minutes we laughed, then for twenty minutes we cried, and finally we spent twenty minutes sitting in silence with eyes closed.

At the end of it, I felt the ultimate bliss and contentment. I think it's because my being had achieved balance. After enacting joy and then enacting sadness, I was left feeling perfectly balanced and at peace. For a long time I have felt that "balance is everything," that balance is the key to the universe. This meditation guarantees to achieve balance.

Because I enjoyed it so much, I want to share it with the world. So I am offering in San Francisco a safe space for experiencing the laughing and crying meditation--for free!

Here are the details:

When: Monday, Feb. 13, 7:30pm-9:30pm
Where: SpiralMuse Home of WellBeing, 3387 22nd Street (@ Guerrero), San Francisco, CA
Why: So we can balance and heal
Cost: Free!

A few things to note:
- Please let me know if you are coming because space is limited. If you have any questions, you can call me at 415.285.6534.
- This is near the full moon so be prepared to release extra amounts of energy due to the power of the moon.
- Please come dedicated to participate. I want you to really laugh, and I want you to really cry, and I want you to really sit silently. You can fake it initially if you need to, but I'm confident that you will soon fall into the real thing.

Intuition sells

Consumer product companies are buying into the growing awakening that intuition counts and that intuition is a desirable human essence. Estee Lauder makes a perfume called Intuition for men and women, and Schick makes a women's disposable razor called Intuition with the slogan "Trust Your Intuition." I love it.

Vera's Friendship Newsletter

Dear ones,

Friends sometimes ask me "So what do you do all day now?" And as I have responded to some of you already, the answer is "Whatever I feel like!" I feel like going for a walk, I go for a walk. If I feel like taking a nap, I take a nap. If I feel like going to yoga, I go to yoga. If I feel like playing on the computer, I play on the computer. If I feel like going to a coffee shop and staring, I go to a coffee shop and stare. It works!

But I have also been doing quite a few free Tarot readings and practice counseling sessions with people. And I have been babysitting my favorite twin girls who just turned a year old on Saturday!

Another thing I'm doing a lot is learning. I'm learning a lot about myself, about money, and about mutuality.

MOON CYCLE MANIFESTATION
One thing I have learned is that I'm asking too much for my workshops. I'm asking so much that even my friends don't want to take them. That's why I want to offer the Moon Cycle Manifestation workshop that starts on Jan. 30 at a friendship price. Moon Cycle Manifestation is about bringing the things you want into your life, using the moon cycles for extra support and your own intuition for guidance. It meets four times, twice on the new moon and twice on the full moon. Here is some more information about it.

So I asked myself what would be a good friendship price - $75, $55? But I finally realized that a true friendship price would be to ask only for donations. So that's what I'm doing now. The suggested donation is $11 per class meeting, but there is no minimum donation and nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. So when you or your friend wants to register for the workshop, please mention the word 'friendship'.

PSYCHIC VALENTINES
Also on the note of friendship: I'm excited to announce the opportunity to send Psychic Valentines this year. A Psychic Valentine is a gift certificate for psychic insight. You can send them to anybody you want. The details are here.

If you want me to send you a reminder to request some Psychic Valentines, let me know and I will send you a reminder email a week before Valentine's Day, on February 7, so that you can still get them on time.

Have a beautiful late January!
Vera.

Introducing: Psychic Valentines™

I had an idea after I turned off the light last night that kept me awake for a couple of hours. So today I went to work and made it happen: The ability to send Psychic Valentines™!

For $20 you can send a Psychic Valentine™ to a friend. A Psychic Valentine™ is a gift certificate for psychic insight via email.

Find out more about Psychic Valentines™.

Notes from The Psychic Pathway

Last year I read the book The Psychic Pathway by Sonia Choquette, and here are the parts that I highlighted while reading it:

The most concrete block to a person's intuition is having a disorganized life.

If you live in a constant state of disarray, with unfinished business, chances are you'll fail to perceive even the most obvious circumstances around you, let alone the more subtle, higher psychic influences.

Organization is the by-product of clear intentions, and psychic guidance is the by-product of organization.

To put it bluntly, disorganization is an energy leak.

My soul told me that there was something [in the bookstore] that would be good for me, and I was looking for what it might be.

The best way to organize your goals and intentions is to create a wish list of those things you want to experience in life and ultimately narrow down this list to uncover the most important of all your desires.

Intuition is the voice of your inner values.

As you wake up, you'll begin to notice who else is awake and who isn't, and your expectations of people will change.

My body seeks only pleasure that is healthy and balanced.

If [your third chakra] is closed, you depend on your ego alone for guidance.

From:
The Psychic Pathway: A Workbook for Reawakening the Voice of Your Soul by Sonia Choquette, Crown Trade Paperbacks, 2004

My favorite things

Emily is right when saying that by focusing on what you love--your favorite things--you will naturally attract what you need.

With that in mind, here are ten of my favorite things:

1. I love doing whatever I want at any given moment.

2. I love being at the right place at the right time.

3. I love living in a bright and colorful world.

4. I love traveling by car and staying in nice rooms.

5. I love talking to people about manifestation and intuition.

6. I love having truthful conversations about deepest desires and deepest fears.

7. I love living in San Francisco.

8. I love babies.

9. I love being healthy.

10. I love the feeling I get from hiking, the feeling that it's good for my entire being, including my heart, my skin, and my legs.

What are YOUR favorite things? What do you LOVE? Send a note to Emily or post in her comments so that YOU can start broadcasting your heart's desires. Thanks, Emily!

Notes from You Are Psychic

When I read, I highlight parts in the book. Usually, it's a sentence here and a sentence there. If an entire paragraph or passage speaks to me, I find the sentence that best captures what I like about the paragraph or passage and highlight that sentence.

I love going back to the books I have read and go through all the highlighted parts again. I always seem to get a lot out of it, and it almost feels as if I am reabsorbing the entire book.

I have decided to share the highlighted parts from some of the books I have read recently. Below is the first in this series.

These are the parts I highlighted in the book You Are Psychic by Debra Lynne Katz:

I closed my eyes and began talking about the images flashing in my mind.

Part of my job is to search for the 'right question' and answer that one.

This energy comes in the form of images, thoughts, sounds, feelings, etc. As soon as I start to look at the energy or image, it begins to change.

I have approached every single reading and personal experience from the perspective that whatever I was learning was not just for myself, but for my future students.

Some of you maybe be drawn to the book because of a single sentence; intuitively opening the book to a particular page where a much-needed message is waiting may be all you ever need from it.

Often you will otbtain information [in clairvoyance] that you could not possibly have obtaind through logical and physical means.

Reading other people helps you gain insights into your own situation because you will be drawn to read people who are mirrors for yourself.

[A clairvoyant] can see through the most convincing persona and reveal the true face behind the most deceptive mask.

A clairvoyant accesses information by connecting with a readee's spirit or the Universal Spirit and then brings this information into the physical and mental realms.

Many people have so much fear about what is behind the door to their own personal power and freedom that they choose to remain in the dark.

We live in the illusion that our thoughts are the truth.

Your spirit has [omniscient and omnipresent] abilities even when it is attached to a living body--your body.

Taking pills without addressing the spirit's needs is like putting bandaids on an amputated limb.

When you worry about what someone is doing (such as their choice of boyfriend) or try to convince them that they are wrong, what you are essentially doing is questioning God or the God within them.

Reading helps move and release energy for both the readee and the reader.

Just as with any experience in life, there is a spiritual reason why we see a particular movie at a particular time.

Oftentimes, along with a clairvoyant image you will receive a bonus from your intuition or knowingness [], which gives you instant awareness of what it is you are looking at.

There is a direct correlation between the clarity of my images and the clairvoyant ability and permissivenes of my readee.

When you are ungrounded, you are much more vulnerable to becoming the effect of whatever or whoever is around you, and other people may find it difficult or annoying to be in your presence.

Remember that a person has no more right to be in your [energy] field than they do to touch your physical body or enter your home without your permission.

Jet lag and culture shock could be minimized and even prevented if most people understood the concept of grounding in present time.

I know a lot of things I say in this book are going to make my readers uncomfortable and that is okay, because the purpose of this book is to provide techniques, tools, and methods for coping with whatever makes them uncomfortable.

I know that if my outer life is messy, my inner life is even messier!

If you can't deal with uncertainty or loneliness or even poverty, then you will always be a prisoner to what seem to be your needs but are really your desires.

Life does want to reward you for putting your dreams over your fears.

You should never use "should" in your questions!

I have seen the negative impact of too much caffeine on the throat and the fifth chakra in several readings.

So what I will be doing today is a clairvoyant reading, where I will be looking at different images that come up. Some of these will be symbolic, while others will have literal interpretations. As I talk, some things will make sense while other things may not make any sense at all. Eventually things will become clear.

I feel that it really is not the readee's responsiblity to ask the right question (although it helps!), but rather it is the clairvoyant who needs to learn how to work with the readee's question (or lack of questions) so that the readee will receive the communication they really need to know.

What I discovered is that the more I talked, the more images I saw. I even feared that if I didn't talk, the images wouldn't come.

If you are seeing something, there is a reason for it. Don't ever forget this.

As a clairvoyant, you can decide to read from either a space of problem solving or a space of validation.

A problem is merely a cognitive definition of how someone is emotionally reacting to a certain situation.

Havingness is a term that describes a person's level of permission to obtain or possess a particular thing or state of being.

The moment you clairvoyantly look at energy, it changes. The degree to which it changes is dependent on many factors. The most significant factor is the intention of the person receiving the reading or healing and their receptivity to change, followed by the intention of the person conducting the reading or healing.

Your reading may have been written into the script of the readee's life to alter the course of events.

The purpose of looking at the future is to see what action needs to be taken or altered in the present to achieve desired goals.

In the same way that there are entities that you cannot see because they vibrate at a different frequency and on a different plane or dimension of existence, there are people out there who cannot see or hear you. They may see your physical body, but beyond that they are only experiencing their own projections when they look into your eyes.

Some people are very afraid of clairvoyance because practice of their own abilities in other lifetimes resulted in violent persecution and death.

Then there are those individuals who have misused their abilities and authority in past incarnations and are therefore banned by certain guardian spirits and councils from having any awareness of these abilities. I have a theory that most hardcore skeptics fall into this category.

It is not appropriate to ask [a psychic] to prove to you prior to the reading that they are really psychic, or to expect them to spend more than five to ten minutes at the most discussing their reading approach.

From:

You Are Psychic: The Art of Clairvoyant Reading & Healing by
Debra Lynne Katz © 2004.Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive, Woodbury, MN 55125-2989. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Maybe tax documents can be fun

Since I work for myself, I will have to file my taxes as a small business. That means that I will have to keep track of all of my business-related expenses, so that I can deduct them from my taxes, and I will have to have proof for all of them, so that I don't get in trouble with the IRS.

At first, thinking about this made me feel sick to my stomach. I don't like the idea of collecting paperwork and holding on to it for seven years. But then I had the idea to get a Hello Kitty folder to keep all my tax documents in, at least for this year. And that eased the pain and discomfort a lot. Since I will now keep my receipts and other proofs of expenses in my Hello Kitty folder, it doesn't seem so daunting, and it might even by kind of fun to start putting things in there. What a relief.




Now I am starting to think of other ways to make annoying tasks more fun. If you don't like doing the dishes, maybe it would help to get some kind of really cool brush. If you don't like your long commute to work, have some friends burn some CD's for you to listen to in the car. If you don't like grocery shopping, make sure to only go to your favorite stores even if they are out of the way. These things may seem so simple, but when I think about how much relief I felt after thinking of the Hello Kitty folder idea, I start to realize how much potential there is in putting some fun back into unpleasant but unavoidable tasks.

Vera's Freedom Newsletter

Hi everybody,

This is the first issue of a newsletter I am going to be sending out regularly. I added you to the list because

1) I like you and
2) I thought you might be interested in what I'm offering to the world now that I don't have a full-time job anymore.

If you would like to be removed from this list, please let me know and I will remove you.

On Tuesday, January 17, my first intuition and psychic awareness workshop starts. It will meet nine times on Tuesdays until April 4. Developing my own intuition has completely changed my life, and this is my attempt to share with others what I have learned and what it can do for you. I believe that anybody can benefit from a good dose of pure unadulterated intuition. Here is some more information about the workshop.

If you or somebody you know would like to sign up, please let me know as soon as possible. If you or somebody you know would like to take it but the cost of it is standing in the way, talk to me.

A couple of weeks later, on the new moon on Monday, January 30th, another series of Moon Cycle Manifestation starts. I have already offered this workshop once in October/November. It will meet four times on Mo(o)ndays on or near the new moons and full moons until March 13. It is about attracting the things you want to come to you, using the moon cycles for extra power and your own intuition to guide you. Here are the details about this workshop.

Lastly, here is something FREE: From now until further notice I am offering a free Tarot reading to anyone who can meet with me in person. I don't have much experience with Tarot yet—that's why it's free—but since I got the intuitive part of it down, I have found that the readings are quite effective in spite of my inexperience. Let me know if you would like to be my practice Tarot client.

That's it for now. Thanks so much for listening!

With gratitude,
Vera.

Free Tarot reading

I have been having so much fun with the Tarot cards that I have decided to give free Tarot readings to anyone who is willing and able to meet up with me in person in San Francisco. I am still learning and practicing, so bear with me, but also bear in mind that it's free! And both myself and my friend Kitty (the only people I have done readings for so far) have found a lot of truth and value in the readings. If you are interested, email me (vera) at dragonflypsychic.com or call me at 415 . 285 . 6534. If I don't answer the phone, please leave a message.

Validation for the Supernatural Universe

My friend Starrie sent me the link to an article: Top Scientists Validating the Supernatural Universe. It mentions some really encouraging things like

The Field tells the story of a group of frontier scientists who discovered that the Zero Point Field - an ocean of subatomic vibrations in the space between things - connects everything in the universe, much like the Force in Star Wars.

and

The field is responsible for our mind's highest functions - our memory, intuition, creativity. It is the force that finally determines whether we are healthy or ill, the force which must be tapped in order to heal.

and

It offers a scientific explanation for many of the most profound human mysteries, from alternative medicine and spiritual healing to extra sensory perception and the collective unconscious.

Good news!

5 steps to emotional health

Somebody recently asked me if I had any suggestions for becoming a more emotionally healthy person. So here are some tips that have really worked for me:

1. Set the intention. When you make the conscious choice to become more emotionally healthy, your subconscious will be happy to oblige and cooperate. Subtly over time change will occur naturally.
2. Experience your emotions. Don't suppress or repress anything. If you notice an emotion that you do not like to have, take a note of the emotion itself and of the fact that you don't like that you are having that emotion. Then you can try to let it go, but never force it. If you force an emotion to go away, i.e. suppress it, it will only get stronger and will be back to haunt you, probably in an even more unpleasant way.
3. Be compassionate with yourself. Don't judge yourself for the emotions you are having. Every emotion you have is valid, including jealousy, anger, or resentment.
4. Express negative emotions. By that I don't mean that you should let out your anger on others or put people down. But when you have a negative emotion regarding a close relationship, try letting that person know as soon as the emotion first comes up. Do so calmly and compassionately, but do let them know if your feelings have been hurt. If you hold the emotion in for too long, not only do you suffer, but the situation can also escalate when you express yourself too late and in a heated moment. By being proactive and expressing yourself sooner rather than later, you can avoid prolonged emotional discomfort as well as fights with the person in question.
5. Get the underlying message. For every emotion you have, there is a story and a lesson. What is this particular emotion trying to teach you, or what is it trying to guide you towards? If you recognize the message or lesson in an emotion, the situation will usually transform in a positive way because you have cleared the path and are ready to move on.

Tarot for 2006

I did my first Tarot card reading today, and I did it with the theme of What's in Store For Me For the Year 2006. I used the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot deck which I borrowed from a friend a while ago.

I did the 15 card spread, and here is what I got:


Click for larger version.

Card 1: This card represents the querent, the nature of the question or problem, and the main influences which surround him or her.
1 --> The Princess of Cups: Imaginative force, unceasing power to generate images and ideas

Cards 2 and 3: Along with card 1, these are the primary cards of the spread. They describe the nature of the circumstances and the personality of the querent.
2 --> The Sun: Consciousness, joy, glory, gain, happiness
3 --> Seven of Wands: Valor, courage in the face of difficulties

Cards 4, 8, and 12: These cards who potential future events and influences. They show what direction the querent's life will naturally take, unless alternate steps are employed to change the course of events.
4 --> The High Priestess: Consciousness, change, fluctuation
8 --> Nine of Pentacles: Material gain
12 --> Two of Pentacles: Harmonious change

Cards 5, 9, and 13: These cards represent an alternative course of action that the querent may choose to take.
5 --> The Ace of Cups: Fertility, productiveness, beauty, happines, pleasure
9 --> The Chariot: Triumph, success, vision of unseen energies
13 --> Seven of Swords: Unstable Effort

Cards 6, 10, and 14: These cards indicate the psychological basis and implications of the situation. They assist the querent in making whatever decision is needed.
6 --> The Devil: Materiality, temptation
10 --> The King of Cups: Creative energy which gives rise to multiple forms
14 --> The Hierophant: Illumination, teaching, wisdom, manifestation

Cards 7, 11, and 15: These cards show forces beyond the querent's control--destiny or karma. The querent must be able to adapt and learn from them.
7 --> Six of Cups: Pleasure
11 --> Nine of Swords: Despair and Cruelty
15 --> Ten of Wands: Oppression

My karma sounds a little nasty, but I'll deal with that, and the rest sounds very promising! Hello 2006!